For as long as I can remember my mom always said, “Madison, there is something different about you.” She knew that something about me was different than my small town and everything in it. So, first I should tell you a little about my town. It’s small… Really really small… I grew up in a town that had one stop light, one grocery store, a gas station, and that is about it. My high school had maybe 400 students (that’s including 7th-12th grade). Everyone knew absolutely everything about everyone. Doesn’t that sound fun? Coming from someone who is open-minded, ready to jump on every opportunity possible, and a liberal… It wasn’t.
Like I said, I’m ready to jump on every opportunity possible. Coming from a small town, that was not the easiest task. When I was only 16 I created my own opportunity by starting my own photography business. Creating Mad Sierra Photography was a perfect mix between heaven and hell. Heaven being I created my own business at such a young age and I was making a profit from doing what I loved. Hell being I was the biggest joke at school.
I was stepping outside the status quo and I was being different. I never heard the end of it through people yelling down the hallway, posting things to make fun of me on social media-- even teachers making fun of me at assemblies.... anything to humiliate me. Being the person I am, I didn’t let it get me down. Instead, I worked ten times harder to prove myself and my work.
My political views were just another thing that was completely different than my community. I was raised in a conservative town, which would make you think that I am a Republican as well, but that is completely wrong.
All through high school my teachers either didn’t express their political opinions, but if they did it was only the conservative side. Never, until my senior year, was I exposed to both sides of the political party and I was amongst a small fraction of my class, a Democrat. If I brought up my views or opinions to people in my community I would have been bombarded with, “Stop trying to take away our guns!!”
I also did several photoshoots advocating women’s rights. It was another way of me being able to express my political views through something I love, but some of community did not agree. I got many comments like, “Just because you have a camera doesn’t mean you are an activist.” It seemed to not matter what views I had or how I expressed them-- I was wrong.
While most of the time my open-mindedness made me a little weird according to my small town, I loved it. By not following what most of my classmates did with sticking to the norm and not trying to be different, I stood out. Maybe I am the hippie-liberal photographer, but I am okay with that. I am okay with that because I wasn’t just another student at Brockway Area High School, I was different. Through the bad and good experiences I did have at Brockway, I would not have changed it for the world. From that small town, I am the open-minded, unique, and creative person I am today. While I have no plans on moving back there after college, I am grateful that Brockway was a chapter in my life.
